


A Beautiful Night

by sonicrainicorn



Series: Berry Done AU [7]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, First Dates, Fluffy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Logan loves too easy, Logic | Logan Sanders needs a hug, M/M, Morality | Patton Sanders is a Sweetheart, Past Relationship Abuse, Patton tries his best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-16
Updated: 2019-02-16
Packaged: 2019-10-29 10:08:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17806040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonicrainicorn/pseuds/sonicrainicorn
Summary: It's Logan's first date after leaving an awful relationship. What could possibly go wrong?





	A Beautiful Night

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to The_Purple_Paladin for suggesting this! It ended up a little more angst heavy than I intended but hopefully it's still enjoyable.
> 
> Anyway, this actually deals rather heavily with the effects of emotional and physical abuse (and a bit of an unhealthy way of coping with them) so if that's not really your thing, then you're free to skip out on this one. I hope you'll join us in the next one-shot :)

 Logan Sanders may not have been as well put together as he made himself out to be.

The Date with Patton was drawing near and he didn’t know what to feel about it. Anxious, for one, but he knew he should have been at least a little excited. And he knew he was being more anxious than a normal person would have been. Anytime he thought about it, his whole body began to tremble, so he pushed it to the side to avoid thinking about it until the day came.

Not if Thomas had anything to say about it, it seemed.

In the week approaching the Date, Thomas became just as on edge as Logan. He asked Logan at almost every possible second if he was sure about going through with it -- if he was sure that this was right. In all honesty, he had no idea if this was the right move or not. He liked Patton, he knew that, but he also liked… Ah, well, Thomas only wanted what was best for him. The last time he ever went on a “date” he came back in, uh, less than ideal shape. That was something that both brothers remembered a little too well.

Anytime Thomas double (or triple, or quadruple) checked, it made Logan more and more anxious. Maybe this  _was_  a bad idea. Maybe he should just call Patton to cancel everything. Never speak to him again and continue to act like love was for suckers. But he couldn’t. Patton was so excited. So even if Logan was terrified he was going to go through with it because that’s what Patton wanted.

Though, perhaps, if he knew that, then maybe he’d force Logan to stay home.

See, Patton didn’t exactly  _know_  about Logan’s past experiences. He had suspicions of course (there’s only so much one can do to hide the signs), but he never asked. And Logan never told him. It might have been a bad idea to keep it to himself, but he couldn’t bring it up. A part of him was afraid that Patton wouldn’t want to see him anymore if he knew. Like a child that stops playing with a toy after seeing that it’s broken.

So once the Date approached, Logan tried to pretend that everything was fine. No, he was not freaking out, thank you very much. Of course, he wasn’t afraid. This was all fine. He could do this. He could handle this.

“I think Patton’s here.”

He couldn’t handle this.

Logan wanted to say something -- anything -- but no words came out. He kept his jaw clenched. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t move. No. No, no, no. Not now. Patton couldn’t see him like this. Patton was supposed to think that everything was fine. As soon as the front door opened, he bolted to his room. The movements felt mechanical -- an automatic reflex that he didn’t know he had. Which is why he found himself hiding under his blankets before his brain had time to catch up. Once it did, he felt like an idiot, but he couldn’t get himself to leave.

“Bear?” Thomas knocked softly on the door. “I’m coming in, okay? It’s just me.” He made sure to close the door behind him after stepping in. “Oh, Logan.”

Logan wanted to curl up at the sadness in his brother’s voice.

“If you needed more time you could have said something.” He sat at the edge of the bed. “You shouldn’t force yourself to do something you don’t want to. Do you want me to tell Patton to come another time?”

“N-no, I --” Logan took in a deep breath. “I can do this.”

“Are you sure?”

He wasn’t, really. But this was for Patton. “Yeah. Just give me a minute.”

“If you say so.” Thomas stood up. “I’ll let Patton know, but if you change your mind please say something.” Then he left.

Logan stayed wrapped up in his blankets. He felt like a child. Who else would think that hiding under the covers will make the bad things go away? He hadn’t done this since, well, the last time he was a child. He didn’t like to think about that day. He didn’t like to think about a lot of days, actually. Everything always seemed so difficult -- even in hindsight.

Eventually, Logan managed to gather enough composure to throw his blankets off. He made sure to appear presentable before leaving the room. If he could act like everything was fine then it would be.

Once he stepped into the living room he almost stopped breathing again. Not because of the fear or anything, but because of how radiant Patton appeared. Truly a ray of sunshine through a cloudy day. Everything about him was bright and colorful. Logan didn’t understand how anyone could continue to be so wonderful after going through life every day.

“Hey, Logan,” Patton chirped. “You ready to go?”

Logan forgot for a moment that he needed to respond. “Yes.”

Thomas walked them to the front door. He sounded a bit like a mother whose child was going out on their first date; he made sure that Logan knew to call him if anything went wrong, what time Patton had to bring him home, and other things of that nature. It caused a brief embarrassment spell to burst through the anxieties.

“I’ll have him back in one piece, I swear,” Patton assured. He seemed more amused at the whole thing rather than embarrassed.

“I’ll hold you to it.” Thomas smiled, but Logan could tell it was forced. “Have fun, don’t do drugs, all that good stuff. Be safe.”

Logan’s stomach dropped. He knew that part was meant for him. “Legally, we are adults, so we don’t have to heed to any of what you say.” Best to ignore it for now.

“Yes, but I am older than both of you. So I win.”

“That’s not how --” He sighed. No point in arguing -- “Yeah, fine. You win.”

Patton smiled at their antics. “We’ll do nothing but wholesome, good things. Scout’s honor.” He held up a salute.

“Uh -- it’s three fingers, Patton.”

Patton corrected it.

Thomas let a real smile seep through. “Alright. Now get out of here. I’m sure you have better places to be.”

The two left after a final goodbye. As they walked to the car together, Patton filled the silence with mindless chatter. Logan shoved his shaking hands into his pockets and listened.

Turned out, Patton would be finishing up his associate's degree by the spring semester. He was very excited about it. Something that normally took an average of two years ended up stretching out to almost four. He had family issues to settle that ate up most of his time in the beginning. He didn’t mind, though. It was important to deal with. But now he was almost done! He’d be a registered vet tech before he knew it.

Logan felt as if that profession was perfect for Patton. Vet techs spend more time with animals than veterinarians do. And Patton adored all animals. From snakes to kittens, or cows to dolphins, he loved them all. Logan didn’t know how he could love so much.

“Patton? What are we stopping here for?”

The two decided that their Date should be something simple. Just a movie. But this was not it.

Patton smiled. “Well, we have some time to kill so I thought, maybe, we’d spend it here.” If Logan didn’t know any better he’d think that Patton looked nervous.

“Yeah, but, why here?” Logan gazed up at the building.

“Um.” Patton fidgeted with his clothing. “I know how much you like to read -- a-and you like quiet. So I thought, maybe, you’d enjoy coming here. I-it, uh, it probably wasn’t very nice to assume. But I just kinda figured that, y’know, you’d like it. I mean if you don’t then we could go somewhere else.”

So Patton was a nervous rambler. Good to know. “Patton.” Logan turned to him with a smile he failed to hold back. He couldn’t believe that his interests had been taken into consideration. “This is perfect.”

Patton stared at Logan with wide, sparkling eyes. As if the stars themselves decided to shine for him personally.

That’s when Logan realized he was still smiling. He wiped it off his face and looked away, clearing his throat in the process. “Shall we head inside?”

Patton blinked a few times as if he needed to process the information. “Right -- yes. Let’s do that.”

Inside, there were few people. A couple of friend groups messing around and a few bored individuals wandering through the aisles for something interesting. Overall, an excellent condition to enter a bookstore under.

The two walked around with no destination in mind. If something intrigued either of them, they would stop to look at it (and tease the other a little bit if it seemed out of their normal aesthetic). Logan ended up having to drag Patton away from the joke books, however, and insisted that he not buy any of them. Because no, Patton, you already come up with enough of your own ridiculous jokes.

Patton conceded, much to the pleasure of Logan’s sanity.

They talked idly about life until Logan spotted something that made him cease listening. He inched closer to it, faintly aware of Patton behind him. There was a table of collectible books. It held hardcover books of stories from famous authors or famous classic tales. Including, but not limited to,  _The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allen Poe; Les Miserables_ ; and a complete Sherlock Holmes. While those were interesting, Logan found himself drawn to one book in particular.

A light blue leather-bound book with the image of a little girl falling, a grinning cat, and a rabbit with a stopwatch.  _Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland & Other Stories._ Logan took it in his hands, running his fingers over the smooth surface. It had a red ribbon bookmark. It was perfect.

“Hey, what’d you find?”

Logan squeaked and slammed the book back down where he found it. “Nothing!”

Patton blinked in surprise. He adjusted the strap on his backpack and eyed Logan up and down. “Alright…” He turned his eyes down to the table. “Alice in Wonderland? That’s --”

_Dumb. Stupid._

“-- cool.”

Wait, what?

“I remember reading those in like fifth grade.” He picked up the book and turned it around in his hands, a faint smile on his face. “Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass. I used to have the ‘Jabberwocky’ poem memorized at one point. I’ve never read any of his other works, though.” He turned the smile up to Logan.

Logan didn’t know what to say. Patton wasn’t upset with him. He didn’t drag him away or tell him that he shouldn’t still like children’s stories. He actually empathized. He expressed an interest in the same thing Logan did. Rather than putting him down, he put in his own experience to be relatable. Logan didn’t know how to handle that.

“Did you want this?” Patton lifted up the book for emphasis.

_Yes!_  “No,” Logan rushed out far too fast to be natural. “I just -- I was just looking at it.” He tried his best to be nonchalant, but he couldn’t tell how well that was working out.

It appeared that Patton didn’t believe him. “Are you sure? Logan, I don’t mind --”

“Hey, look, more books.” Logan noped right out of there, his heart in his throat. He didn’t want Patton to convince him to get the book. He didn’t need it so, therefore, it was unnecessary to have. It was a silly children’s book anyway. He shouldn’t have shown interest in it in the first place.

He moved on to the next aisle but kept his eyes cast down out of pure instinct. He feared Patton would come around and yell at him for running away. Yet when Patton showed up, hands moving down the straps of his backpack, he didn’t do anything but smile. He didn’t even mention Logan’s odd behavior. He continued on as if nothing had happened.

Just in case, Logan kept silent while Patton talked. Patton was always good at small talk. He knew the right things to say to keep a conversation going -- even with himself.

“Whoa, this is pretty.” Patton backtracked to get to the book he saw. He picked it off the shelf to examine it further.

Logan joined at his side and almost gasped.  _Written in the Stars._  A book about constellations, their facts, and their myths. As Patton flipped through the pages, a beautiful illustration of a constellation’s story could be seen. Their origin, location, and stars accompanied it.

“I’m going to guess you know much of this.” Patton glanced up to give Logan a smile.

“Not as much as you’re probably thinking.” Logan gazed down at the book. “There’s no way I could possibly know every single thing about all eighty-eight constellations.”

“I’m sure you tried.”

Logan scoffed a bit. He wasn’t wrong. “Back when I was delusional and obsessed with space. I even wanted to be an astronaut for a couple of years.”

Patton chuckled. “I know. Thomas showed me the pictures of you on Halloween.” He continued to skim the pages. “You were so cute and tiny --” he paused to glance at Logan out of the side of his eye -- “well,  _tinier._  What made you want to be an astronaut in the first place?”

“Because space is cool,” Logan stated matter-of-factly. It made Patton snort. “There’s so much to see -- and I wanted to see it all. I wanted to be where few people get to be. It would have been remarkable to be there first-hand.” He continued to babble on about all the reasons his younger self wanted to see space. That dream died about as soon as he turned ten, but the passion for what once was still held deep. If he were to admit it, he was still a little obsessed with space. The vastness of it, the planets still yet to be discovered, what about that wasn’t compelling?

_Wait._

Logan shut his mouth immediately. He started rambling. Patton only asked a simple question, yet Logan extended it far longer than it should have been. Oh no. Why would he do that? Nothing he had to say would have been interesting to Patton. He was going to get mad. He was going to yell about wasting time with useless facts. He was going to drag him away so no one could see what happened next --

But none of that occurred. Patton had his full attention on Logan, the book forgotten in his hands. He didn’t do anything. All he did was smile and look at him with those bright, caring eyes. The smile faded a bit. “Are you okay?”

Logan tried to find his voice. “Yes.” He shoved his hands in his pockets again. He didn’t say another word more.

Patton didn’t appear to be fully convinced, but he dropped the subject. “Well, I think it’s time to head out now.” He closed the book and put it back on the shelf.

As the two made their way to the front of the store, Patton stopped short of the doors. “Ah, shoot. I just remembered D asked me to get a notebook for him.” He gave an apologetic smile. “Wait for me outside? It’ll take like two seconds, I promise.”

Logan found it a bit odd but complied anyway.

The sun was starting to set, allowing the cool night air to roll through. Something about the night always comforted Logan. It seemed odd considering a main reason humans were able to evolve was due to a fear of the night and the things within it. But Logan didn’t see anything to fear. It was apart of nature. It brought about the stars and interesting animals and a comforting blanket.

Thomas and Patton might have felt a bit differently about it. They were both quick to be frightened. To them the night came with monsters and creatures at every corner; something ready to attack if even looked at or acknowledged. Logan knew, logically, that would never happen. Monsters didn’t wait until night to come out.

“Sorry about that,” Patton slipped his backpack strap over his shoulder, “let’s get going now, shall we?”

Logan found himself easing up the more time he spent with Patton. Anytime he feared he made a mistake, Patton never acted on it. He would just smile and change the subject until Logan decided to join the conversation again. It was different. Logan wasn’t used to such compassion or understanding. The only other time he got either of those was from Thomas. Though recently, that had become an overbearing protectiveness.

Part of him wanted to allow himself to enjoy it -- enjoy Patton without thinking something bad would happen -- but another part couldn’t stop being afraid. He had gotten so used to hiding. Hiding away from anything that could be perceived as even a minor threat. Hiding from emotions because they weren’t ever any good to him anyway. What would he do if he came out of hiding? He would be exposed -- broken pieces for everyone to gawk at and pity. He didn’t want to be pitied. He wished he didn’t have anything to be pitied for.

Logan tried to push down those thoughts in favor of listening to Patton, though if he were being honest, he didn’t even pay much attention to that. What he focused on was how much excitement Patton had and the way he radiated happiness. Like nothing ever worried him in his life. That’s something that always captivated Logan. Yes, Patton could be considered attractive, but that wasn’t anything he ever noticed. He only ever noticed the optimism. The eagerness. The sheer joy. While he couldn’t begin to comprehend how someone could be like that twenty-four seven, he found himself falling for it more and more with every interaction.

“Logan,” Patton called in a sing-songy voice. “Come back to Earth, Logan.”

Flushing in embarrassment, Logan blinked out of his thoughts to see Patton grinning at him at him in the dim lighting. They walked inside the theater without him noticing. “I may have, uh, forgotten to pay attention.”

Patton laughed a bit. “You're so cute, bumblebee.”

More heat found its way to Logan's face. “B-bumblebee?”

This seemed to catch Patton off-guard. “Did I say that out loud?” Even in the limited light, it became obvious that he was embarrassed after Logan nodded. “I didn't mean to. I just -- I was thinking it. You're so -- and I'm -- I just --”

“It's alright, Patton.” It felt weird having to be the one to do damage control. Then he added, almost as an afterthought, “You're free to call me that if you wish.” He didn't know if he could get any warmer.

Patton paused. “Cute or bumblebee?” He asked in a teasing tone.

“Don't push it.”

As they found seats for the movie, Patton revealed why he brought a backpack with him in the first place. Both his brothers had come over to help “sort him out” since apparently, they thought he was a mess and shouldn’t be allowed to choose his own outfits. Logan thought it a little strange that Patton let himself get bossed around by his younger siblings, but being a younger sibling himself, he could understand how easy it could be to boss around a child-like older brother. Other than that, D also decided to bake some cookies. Patton couldn’t bake to save his life, so D ended up doing all of the work.

“They’re mostly for you,” Patton muttered. The previews for upcoming movies were still rolling. “I think he wanted to make up for the last time you two saw each other. He still feels bad about it.”

Logan flushed again. That was… a bad day. Embarrassing, even. A silly little instinct that led to him running out of the house in near tears. “It’s alright. I just overreacted. He shouldn’t continue to feel sorry for it.”

Patton opened his mouth, preparing a counter, but closed it. He turned his attention back to the cookies. “Well, I think you’ll both feel better if you take these.”

“Aren’t you going to share with me?”

“I thought that was assumed.”

Once the movie ended, the two left with Patton chittering about how good it was. Logan held off on any comments (he’d never admit it was because he enjoyed seeing Patton talk so excitedly about something). Though as they walked, Patton cut himself off in the middle of a sentence. He gasped and grabbed Logan’s hand, dragging him in the direction that caught his eye.

Down the slope behind the theatre was a little park. A small jungle gym and a few swings were all that it held. Since it was a bit late, there wasn’t anyone else around. The streetlamp provided enough light to see in the tiny area, but not much beyond it.

“Swings.” Patton motioned to them with a wide grin.

Logan noticed Patton’s hand still in his own. “Aren’t you supposed to be a twenty-one-year-old man?”

“That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy the simple things in life.” He tugged Logan over to the swingset. When he let go, Logan tried to pretend he didn’t notice the loss of warmth. “So come on. When was the last time you ever sat on a swing?”

“When my feet didn’t touch the ground when I sat on one.”

“I’m sure your feet still don’t touch the ground.” Patton smiled innocently up at him.

Logan huffed and took the swing beside Patton in annoyance. “I’m not as tiny as you keep making me out to be.” He crossed his arms and glared at Patton -- though maybe it ended up looking more like a pout.

“Yeah, I know. I just like teasing you.” He stuck out his tongue for emphasis.

“You’re ridiculous.”

They continued to talk over little things. Like whether or not someone would be able to survive off cookies alone or the best way to get a dog to like you. Normal conversations. All the while, Patton swung himself on the swing. Logan decided not to. He rocked back and forth a little bit but didn’t let his feet leave the ground.

“Wanna see me jump off?” Patton asked, a child-like eagerness in his voice.

“I would prefer if you didn’t,” Logan responded. He knew Patton to be rather clumsy at the worst of times. Despite this, Patton continued to gain height with his swings. “If you get hurt, I’m not going to feel bad for you.”

“Aw, don’t jinx me, Logan.” Once the swing reached its high point, Patton jumped off. He stumbled a bit but managed to keep his footing. He didn’t fall face first into the wood chips. “I did it!” He threw his hands up and cheered. “I used to be so bad at that.”

“I’m going to pretend that I didn’t just hear you say that to me.” Logan placed his hands on his lap, smiling at Patton as he continued to exclaim how great that was. His antics made Logan’s chest full. A warm, pleasant feeling that sat over his heart. Who knew that something as simple as watching Patton be his silly self could make him feel so… happy? Not even when he was with  _him_  did he ever feel this way. Logan doesn’t even recall a time where  _he_  ever caused that sort of comfortable feeling. Maybe  _he_  never did and Logan was too blind and inexperienced to realize that it wasn’t supposed to work that way.

That when someone looks at you, you shouldn’t be relieved that it isn’t in anger again. That when you go out, you’re not supposed to feel like you’re on a tightrope. That when you’re in love, you shouldn’t have to ask if this is how everyone does it. Because that isn’t how any sort of relationship should work -- romantic or otherwise. Maybe it’s meant to feel like this. Light and airy and different. A good different that erupts in butterflies or melts like chocolate chips in cookies. It was nice.

This feeling bubbled inside him. It pushed up and up until it escaped out over his lips. A loud, bright tone that caused Patton to stop talking. Then Logan clamped his hands over his mouth, silencing all sound immediately.

_Oh no._

He laughed. He shouldn’t have done that. Why would he do that? His laugh was annoying and loud -- Patton wouldn’t want to hear that. No one wanted to hear that. That’s why he never did it. If it ever came out, all he’d get told was how awful it was. By one person in particular, at least… And then he’d have to get shown why he shouldn’t do it again.

“Well, that was a pleasant sound.” Patton’s voice cut through Logan’s inner panic. His large smile didn’t waver.

Logan lowered his hands. “W-what?” He wasn’t getting yelled at. He wasn’t getting told that he shouldn’t make such ugly sounds. Patton’s words were genuine. No trace of sarcasm in his tone at all.

“Your laugh,” Patton continued. He once again gazed at Logan like the most precious thing had been sat in front of him. “It was cute. I should make you laugh more often.”

“I -- what?” He didn’t know what to say.

Patton simply continued to smile. “We should probably get going. I don’t want Thomas to come after me if I don’t get you back on time.”

Logan followed him back to the car, his face flushed at being referred to as cute twice in one night.

Upon arriving at the apartment, the two idled at the door. Neither knew what to say next, as it felt that some sort of final words should be said before they left each other’s side. Logan found it a bit ironic that now of all times is when Patton runs out of things to say.

“Hey, Logan,” Patton starts softly. “Are you lost?”

Logan quirked a brow. “Uh, no this is --”

“Because heaven is a long way from here.”

Logan snorted and put a hand over his mouth to hide his smile.

However, this seemed to encourage Patton to continue. “Are you made of copper and tellurium? Because you’re CuTe.”

“Patton --” Logan tried so hard not to start laughing.

“I know this is going to sound cheesy, but I think you’re the gratest.”

“Stop.”

“Are you a camera? Because every time I look at you I smile.”

“I swear --”

“I think that you just lost an electron because you are positively attractive.”

Logan let out a little giggle then pressed his hand closer to his mouth. He could feel how warm his cheeks had gotten.

Patton grinned at him, his eyes bright. “Yes! I got you to laugh again.”

Logan rolled his eyes and lowered his hand. He couldn’t completely wipe his smile away. “Goodnight, Patton.”

Patton once again seemed to be lost while staring at Logan’s smile. He snapped out of it once he realized Logan would be leaving. “Oh! Wait.” He slipped off his backpack and stuck his hand inside. It returned to his back once he brought out what he needed. “Here.”

Logan stared at the object in surprise. A blue book with a red ribbon sticking out of it.  _Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland & Other Stories._ He hesitated before taking it in his hands. This was his?

“I saw how much you liked it when we were at the bookstore,” Patton shrugged. His face had become bright pink, “so I thought I’d get it for you.”

“I…” Logan held it close to his chest. He didn’t pay any attention to how wide his smile got as he looked up at Patton. “Thank you.”

Patton stumbled on his words. “Y-yeah -- sure. No problem… dude.” He cringed at that and his face seemed to get red in an instant.

Logan laughed again. A small one, but this time he didn’t try to cover it up. For just this moment, he didn’t care about the consequences. Because right now everything felt too good to be true. Hell, maybe it was. This kind gesture could be a trap or a false sense of security. The wonderful calm before an inevitable storm that would leave him scarred. That’s what every part of him tried to scream at him -- except one. One little part thought otherwise. The part of him that was still easy to trust and quick to fall in love. He decided to let it win this one time.

He didn’t realize how close they had gotten until the door opened and they jumped back to put a normal distance between themselves. Thomas raised a brow.

“See, look. I brought him back in one piece.” Patton clasped his hands behind his back and gave Thomas a nervous smile. “Not a scratch on him -- and we’re on time.”

“I see that.” He still gave Logan a once over, however. “So were you two done out here or…?”

“Oh -- yeah -- totally.” Logan nodded in agreement. “I’ll just -- I’ll uh -- goodnight.” Patton began to back away. “I had a fun time, Logan.” He waved before disappearing down the stairwell.

Logan ignored Thomas’s questioning gaze as he stepped inside the apartment.

“So how was your date, bear?”

Logan stopped. He looked down at the book in his hands, a smile once again gracing his features. “I’d say it went pretty well.”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to suggest more prompts! I have some pretty angst heavy stuff lined up (I'm only a little sorry for it), but I don't want to get working on them until there's more fluff to balance it out. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this!


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